One of the greatest characters of the Bible is the patriarch Abraham. He is the father of the Jewish nation who received the promise that his seed would be as the stars of the heavens and as the sand of the sea. Hebrews talks about the faith he displayed in being willing to offer Isaac after waiting so long for this promised seed. He is the one the Lord said would be blessed to be a blessing. Those who blessed Abraham would be blessed and those who cursed him would be cursed. In studying the blessings so freely bestowed upon this great man of faith we learn that the Lord was not arbitrarily choosing someone upon whom to shine His grace. Rather, the actions of Abraham set in motion these perpetual blessings. Many things can be observed besides his experience at Mt. Moriah.
The first thing we see about Abraham is that he left the land of his nativity at the bidding of the Lord. He went out, “not knowing whither he went” (Hebrews 11:8) in willing obedience to the command. There is one passage we might overlook that is even more powerful in explaining why the blessings of the Lord were so rich and plentiful in the life of Abraham. When the inevitable judgment of God was going to fall on the wicked nations of the ancient world, the Lord made a very telling statement as to why He was going to inform Abraham of this impending doom. Genesis 18:19 “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment”.
This testimony of Abraham’s commitment to teaching his children speaks of its great value to the Lord. Abraham understood that for the will of God to continue to future generations there had to be deliberate teaching. He realized that his children needed explicit instruction in the ways of the Lord. The results speak for themselves. May we ever be mindful in raising our children in Apostolic truth to command them to keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment.
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